Park Hyatt Beaver Creek purchased for record $145 million

BEAVER CREEK — A Dallas company spent a record $145 million for the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek because, they say, it’s worth it.

Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc. announced Monday that it had completed its purchase of the 190-room Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort & Spa for $145 million. That’s $766,000 per room, also a local record.

“The acquisition of the iconic Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort & Spa is an opportunity for us to acquire a premier resort with the best location in the very attractive Beaver Creek market,” Ashford Prime CEO Richard J. Stockton said. “This property fits perfectly with our strategy of owning luxury hotels and resorts and further diversifies our portfolio by establishing a presence in the highly sought-after Vail Valley market.”

Park Hyatt general manager Mark Herron was managing the Four Seasons in Vail when it was sold in December of 2016. He migrated to the Park Hyatt in February.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to continue to enhance the property and the guest experience through the new ownership,” Herron said.

Ashford closed the Park Hyatt deal with what amounts to lightning speed in the world of commercial real estate. The company announced an agreement March 10.

Several things make a property like the Park Hyatt worth that much money, said local real estate developer Harry Frampton.

Cash flow is important, of course, but beyond that is location and whether that facility can be duplicated in a similar location.

“It’s a location that cannot be duplicated, or would very difficult to duplicate,” Frampton explained. “If you wanted to build another Park Hyatt next to the ski slopes of Vail, Arrowhead, Bachelor Gulch or Beaver Creek, it would be difficult or impossible.”

Ashford Hospitality’s $145 million purchase of the Park Hyatt eclipses last December’s $121 million record sales price for Vail’s Four Seasons to a New York company and its Asian partner.